Ranking of the best open world games featuring martial artists as protagonists

summation

• To stand out in an open world game, you need compelling combat mechanics, interesting content, and side activities.
• Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise allows players to master Hokuto Shinken and enjoy satisfying combat.
• Yakuza 0 offers a variety of fighting styles for Kiryu and Majima, allowing players to annihilate their enemies in style.

Open world games have become so common that simply including a sandbox is no longer a problem. These titles should include interesting content, engaging combat mechanics, and tons of side activities for players to get lost in.

Martial artists are surprisingly rare in most open-world games, but players love the idea of ​​controlling a master of hand-to-hand combat and pummeling enemies into oblivion. Once you click through these combat systems, players will enjoy a truly great open world game that will feel satisfying to play through to the end.

Honorable Mention: Jade Empire

Although it may not offer an actual open world sandbox per se. Jade Empire's massive hub allows players to enjoy a semi-open world in one of BioWare's most unique games. It's a shame the studio didn't build on this IP. That's because players are fascinated by Wuxia RPGs, which allow you to use several unique martial arts in battle.

Advancing the story, bonding with characters, and completing a few optional challenges are just a few ways to progress through the story. Jade Empire Keeps the player occupied. Using a variety of powerful hand-to-hand techniques to crush any enemies unlucky enough to stand in your talented student's way makes this game stand out as a great RPG worth the time of anyone who likes what this genre has to offer. .

7 Fist of the North Star: Paradise Lost

Players master Hokuto Shinken's virtual martial arts to annihilate their enemies.

Fist of the North Star is one of the most iconic shonen manga of all time, embodying the then-popular trend of shonen protagonists surprising everyone by showing off their immense strength and near infallibility in battle.

lost paradise RGG Studio takes over the series, and players can control Kenshiro as he masters the fictional martial art Hokuto Shinken to inflict death on his enemies. The game had its problems, but fans yakuza Formula was excited to check out the studio's other games that implement the cathartic hand-to-hand combat they can't get enough of.

6 judgment

Players control a detective who can switch between different martial arts styles

To the main line yakuza Since the series made the leap to turn-based combat, fans have been assured of numerous spin-offs that will continue to develop the real-time combat that is a hallmark of the series. This applies to: judgment In the game, players can switch between different fighting stances while taking control of the new protagonist.

Players may not think of Yagami as a protagonist, but there's no denying that this detective is an explosive force to control in battle. Juggling enemies and using powerful hit actions to slaughter them is a gameplay loop that will be familiar and helpful to fans. judgment Stands out as one of the best spin-offs yakuza stratagem.

5 Absolver

A challenging multiplayer open world RPG that's fun to play

Players who want to check out heart-pounding combat in multiplayer games will love anything. Absolver Bring it to the table. The game's skill ceiling is high, but if fans want to experiment with combat as a martial artist, they'll want to conquer it.

This helps keep the difficulty level from being too overwhelming, with the game allowing players to explore the open world and tackle combat challenges at their own pace. It may seem difficult, but players will love mastering direct combat in a great open-world game where they slowly learn the basics before moving on to more advanced martial arts moves.

4 Shenmue

An innovative open world game where players control a teenage martial artist.

Shenmue It was an innovative open world game that allowed players to roam around a sandbox environment while the timer continued to tick. It may be a bit frustrating to play now, but I can't explain enough how appealing this game is to players who want to immerse themselves in a realistic world.

Protagonist Ryo Hazuki must avenge his father's death, develop his abilities as a martial artist, and eliminate the numerous enemies that stand in his way. Combat is not a big focus of the game, but players will enjoy engaging in battles that are accomplished using: Virtua FighterThe engine of is an engine that defeats enemies with close combat techniques.

3 sleeping dog

Featuring a variety of close-quarters combat inspired by Hong Kong action movies.

Players who like the atmosphere of Hong Kong action movies will love this. sleeping dog. This underrated open world game is packed with furious action, letting players engage in high-speed chases, perform stunts jumping from one car to another, and slowly advance through a plot that gets better and better with each mission. .

Undercover cop Wei Shen is quite likeable, with a great deal of nuance in his character as his personal emotions and professional duties begin to collide. Combat is one of the best parts. sleeping dogA combat system inspired by allows players to eliminate enemies in brutal fashion. arkham Although it is a series, it has enough originality to set it apart from the adventures of the Caped Crusader.

2 Yakuza 0

Kiryu and Majima both utilize elements of traditional martial arts in their rough fighting styles.

Yakuza 0 Players will see how Kiryu and Majima grew as characters to become two of the most iconic gangsters in the world. yakuza franchise. Players can switch between three fighting styles for each character, allowing them to use unorthodox attacks to take on enemies.

Kiryu's Rush style focuses on boxing, while Majima's Thug style features a variety of martial arts-inspired moves and some secret tactics to take down opponents. All combat stances are very useful to use in combat and allow players to annihilate hordes of enemies in style.

1 Batman: Arkham City

Bruce Wayne is a skilled martial artist and uses these skills to defeat numerous thugs.

Most Batman fans are aware of Bruce Wayne's skills across a variety of martial arts and how he uses them to defeat the villains that threaten Gotham at night. This is reflected in the combat system. arkham A game featuring a second Rocksteady title (Batman: Arkham City) is considered by many to be one of the best open world video games of all time.

Not only is it a huge improvement over its predecessor, but the story is one of the best featuring the Dark Knight. Descending on enemies from the shadows and eliminating them with Batman's expertise in melee combat techniques keeps the combat system fresh until the very end.